Skip to content

Language and the Law

Thank You to Our
Partner & Sponsor

S.J. Quinney College of Law

Thank You to Our Sponsors

Tanner Humanities Center

College of Humanities

 

Past Language and the Law Forums

2021 - Forum on Language and the Law:  Legal Interpretation

CONVENED BY

Scott Jarvis
Chair, Department of Linguistics

WHERE

Virtual on Zoom

WHEN

Friday
April 16, 2021

The theme for the 2021 Forum on Language and the Law is legal interpretation, and this includes an emphasis on corpus linguistic methods for determining original and ordinary meaning in statutes, contracts, trademark agreements, the Constitution, and other important documents. The speakers at the 2021 Forum include two linguists, a law professor, and a Utah Supreme Court Justice. The first linguist, Jesse Egbert (Northern Arizona University), will offer insights into best practices in corpus-based linguistic research dealing with questions of original and ordinary meaning. The law professor, Lawrence Solum (Georgetown University), will discuss original and ordinary meaning from a legal perspective, focusing particularly on constitutional law. The second linguist, Tammy Gales (Hofstra University), will highlight linguistic principles and methods while emphasizing her work on statutory interpretation in trademark cases. Finally, Associate Chief Justice Tom Lee (Utah Supreme Court) will discuss the empirical methods he has used and advocated for when dealing with questions of legal interpretation.

The information and methods presented in this symposium will help lawyers, linguists, and judges improve their abilities to analyze and evaluate linguistic evidence related to legal interpretation in multiple domains of civil and criminal law. 

2021 Schedule


2019 - What Lawyers Need to Know About Language and Linguistics

CONVENED BY

Scott Jarvis
Chair, Department of Linguistics

WHERE

University of Utah - Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Bldg, Room 109

WHEN

Thursday
April 25, 2019

The 2019 Forum on Language and the Law features three keynote speakers: a linguist, a lawyer, and a judge. The linguist, Roger W. Shuy (Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Georgetown University), is the world’s foremost forensic linguist and is commonly referred to as the father of American forensic linguistics. He will demonstrate some of the critical types of linguistic evidence that are often overlooked in criminal cases. The lawyer, Janet Ainsworth (J. D. Eshelman Professor of Law, Seattle University), is the current Vice President of the International Association of Forensic Linguistics and the author of several influential studies on language and power. She will describe how language typically works in cases of power asymmetry, and how this often results in the inability of ordinary civilians to exercise their rights while being interrogated by the police. The judge, the Honorable Lynn W. Davis (Utah Fourth District Court), is an expert on the needs and challenges of people with limited English proficiency (LEP) in the U.S. legal system, and one of his publications has become required reading for new judges across the country. He will focus on due process for LEP individuals, and particularly on their need for highly qualified interpreters.

In addition to outlining these problems and giving copious examples from case law, each speaker will also offer valuable, state-of-the-art solutions. The information and methods presented will help lawyers and judges improve their abilities to analyze and evaluate linguistic evidence, protect individuals’ rights, and allow individuals with limited English proficiency to participate more fully in the legal process.

2019 Schedule


2018 - Forum on Language and the Law: Non-native Speakers of English in the Legal System

CONVENED BY

Scott Jarvis
Chair, Department of Linguistics

WHERE

University of Utah - Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Bldg, Room 109

WHEN

Friday
April 20, 2018

In a society that is becoming increasingly linguistically diverse, the treatment of non-native speakers of English has become a high priority. This forum will introduce the audience to a relatively new branch of linguistics—forensic linguistics—that functions at the crossroads of language and the law, and will give special attention to the status of non-native speakers of English in the US legal system. The purpose of the forum is to initiate a dialog between linguistics experts and stakeholders, with a focus on three critical real-world concerns: non-native speakers’ comprehension of the Miranda rights, the quality of court interpreting, and linguistic discrimination in the workplace. 

2018 Schedule

Last Updated: 5/31/22